


Ten Thousand More

by azure_frost



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst/Comfort, Brotherly Love, Gun Violence, Leo-centric - Freeform, Mentions of Blood, My first fic, No beta readers, TCEST DNI, We Die Like Men, donnie and raph appear for a solid three seconds nice, i think??, mikey is here too, we love mikey and leo fics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:55:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29260089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/azure_frost/pseuds/azure_frost
Summary: A soft /oh/, sounds from behind, like someone was in dull shock or received a rather disappointing surprise. It was the same sound Mikey made when Raph tried to cook him a surprise breakfast and ended up burning everything- even the orange juice. It breaks Leo from his thoughts and he looks over his shoulder, heart dropping to his stomach in a way that makes him nauseous.~~~~A story in which Leo remembers that they aren't kids anymore and sometimes the monsters in their nightmares are them.
Relationships: Leonardo & Michelangelo (TMNT)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 51





	Ten Thousand More

**Author's Note:**

> Do I thrive off angst? Yes 100% the more pain the better.
> 
> There is a gun in this story and details of blood, so please don't read this one shot if those are triggers for you! 
> 
> Um... so I was listening to Turning Out by AJR while writing this and it kinda has the vibes of this fic? If you like... want a song or something. Anyways, please enjoy my first Rise fic!

_"Oh."_

_ Mikey can't move, can't even flinch. It was like every muscle in this body collectively decided to stop working. Everything around him faded away, the stinging in his shin from road rash was a faint sensation, the panicked yelling of Leo calling his name was echoing in a tunnel, and the terrifying and gut wrenching copper smell of blood was nothing but a distant memory.  _

_ All he could focus on was his heartbeat thundering in his ears like an ever persistent drum and the cold metal barrel of a gun pressed against his forehead.  _

_ "What a freak."  _

_ There was the faintest click and Mikey's eyes widened, remembering Splinter's oldest warning.  _

"No one can out fight a gun." 

**《{•}》**

Leo ignored the stinging in his head, blood rolling down his temple in waves and leaking into his right eye. He was forced to favor his left, leaving him unguarded on the right. 

It was his first week as 'official' leader and of course he was already screwing it up. 

If there was one thing in the world, one thing that kept Leo awake at night, that ate away at him with needle teeth and sharp claws, it was the fact he never felt like he had a place. Donnie was the tech guy, Mikey was the optimist and Raph- 

Well, Raph was the leader. The older big brother, who protected them all. Of course it was annoying, always being in his shadow, but Leo found comfort in the cold darkness and relished in the freedom of being a kid. 

Until their dad turned one finger to him and exclaimed loudly, "blue is leader now." 

Leo was pretty sure his heart stopped at the moment. 

Suddenly he was out of the comfort of the shadows and thrust into the burning spotlight of leadership, all eyes on him. 

And as much as he acted like he basked in attention, the truth was that he didn't feel ready. He was still a kid, he still wanted to steal Donnie's tech, and race Mikey on skateboards, and prank Raph, knowing that at the end of the day, there was a Jupiter Jim movie waiting to be played. 

_But leaders can't do that._

_ Leaders aren't kids.  _

Leo bites back a curse as he blocks another punch. Mikey was with him on patrol that day and the last thing he needed was Raph breathing down his neck about teaching his younger brother the glorious word of fuck. Now wasn't the time to be clouded by his thoughts and insecurities, he had to focus to get him and Mikey out of the alley way. 

They were outnumbered seven to two, but that wasn't what bothered Leo. Hell, they took down the Shredder about a month ago, seven measly humans was nothing more than a warm-up at this point. The issue was the shiny metal peeking out between the dark folds of clothing. It didn't take long for Leo to recognize the smooth barrel of a revolver, the weapon being a crude reminder that although they could train all their lives to fight, everything could be lost to one tiny bullet. Times were changing fast and swords were becoming dusty memories of fallen heroes. 

The katanas in their saya seemed to hum against Leo's shell, as if hearing his thoughts. 

_Let us out._

They whispered, the mystic metal almost purring. 

Leo frowns and ignores the impulse to use them as an attack, instead ducking under a thugs punch to grasp under his armpit, throwing the much larger man over his shoulder and against the ground. The attacker releases a weak moan before going silent, the impact temporarily knocking him out. It wouldn't take long to defeat the remaining gang members, only four were stubbornly standing their ground, the money they stole from a bank shoved into heavy duffle bags and slung over their shoulders, especially if Leo pulled out his katanas, but he couldn't bring himself to risk it. One wrong angle and some guy could end up losing his arm. This wasn't Meatsweat who could suck some mutant to regain his strength, or Ghostbear who could phase through the sharp killers, these were stupid, reckless, and very mortal humans. 

Leo relaxes slightly when he sees that Mikey is holding his ground just fine. Similar to Leo, Mikey had taken on the defensive attack, his dual nunchakus firmly by his side as he delivered fast punches to the abdomen of one of the attackers. The mere heartbeat he was left stunned was enough for Mikey to strike him in the chest and send the man flying into one of his partners. 

_Only two left_. 

Once they dispatched the remaining offenders, him and Mikey could escape to the safety of the roofs and leave the incident behind them. Maybe they could even skip patrol today, go home early and watch some Jupiter Jim films to go completely brain dead and mellow out. Raph probably wouldn't argue with that, especially if Mikey busted out some of his puppy dog eyes. Leo could take the scolding in the morning, another reminder of how big of a mistake his father had made making him leader. 

The thought left a sour taste in his mouth and a hollow feeling in his chest, his attention briefly moving away from the fight to his insecurities. A mistake on his part as a punch lands square in his face and sends him to the ground, a hand going to his burning nose to feel the warm blood already dripping down. He blinks to return back to the present, looking up to see the thief reaching into his coat for his gun. It seems to go in slow motion, Leo's eyes widening, but he launches to his feet and tackles him to the ground, the man's head striking the dirty ground with a wet smack. 

Leo pauses, hands and knees still on the ground as he tries to ignore the sharp pain in his head and the white edges around his vision. His breathing comes out erratic, more so when his knee brushes up against the hard cold metal of the gun. That was too close. 

A soft _oh_ , sounds from behind, like someone was in dull shock or received a rather disappointing surprise. It was the same sound Mikey made when Raph tried to cook him a surprise breakfast and ended up burning everything- even the orange juice. It breaks Leo from his thoughts and he looks over his shoulder, heart dropping to his stomach in a way that makes him nauseous. 

"Mikey!?" Leo yells in a panic, eyes blowing wide at the gun pressed against his baby brother's forehead. Mikey doesn't turn or even look his way, stiff like a statue as he stares up at the man in stunned silence. His hands were slightly raised, like he was surrendering, or trying to calm down a feral animal. Like he was... Doctor Feelings and this man just needed a talk for him to put the killing machine away. The katanas practically rip from Leo's shell, the metal ringing loudly in the alley as a snarl makes its way through his throat. 

No one hurt Mikey. 

The katana flies from his hand and in a flash of blue, Leo vanishes, knowing that he needs the help of mystic portal magic if he wants to reach Mikey in time. He feels himself shifting into that weightless sensation of the portal, vision flashing a violent white as he detaches himself from the physical world and enters that space between the molecules. Usually the sensation only lasted a millisecond, but knowing what was on the other side, what could happen if he was late by even a heartbeat, made that moment of nothing feel like an eternity. 

Solid ground under his feet, a startling realization that he was back in the physical world as his mental state catches up with his physical state, hands only shaking slightly before they find themselves wrapped around the hilt of the katana and arching downwards, something warm splattering against his arm and his face, metal striking the concrete ground and releasing an ugly clattering noise. The man barely had time to respond to his falling arm before the swords arch back up and slice him across the chest. 

A gurgling sound comes from the falling man's throat as he chokes on his blood, a stump of an arm flailing in the air as he stares up at Leo with pure terror in his eyes. Leo's furious expression shifts into something cold and unforgiving, not reacting to the sputtering man attempting to scramble away from him. He didn't feel remorse for his actions, not even when the light in his cowardly brown eyes faded and he ceased moving. There was no guilt, or pity, or sadness anywhere inside of him, just the hollow feeling that he had to do it. 

And he would do it ten thousand more times if it meant protecting Mikey. 

"L- Leo?" Mikey asks hesitantly and Leo can almost hear his heart breaking at the hitch in his baby brother's voice. He sounded so much like a little kid, and Leo remembers that he _is_ a little kid. He was finger painting last week, tired of using his paint brushes and wanting to try something new. He still believed in ghosts and the tooth fairy, and loved making pillow forts and watching movies until the sun comes up and- 

Leo tilts his blade and the neon lights of New York glint off the blood dripping down the blade and he remembers that he's still a kid too. 

He doesn't want to turn and face Mikey, scared of what he'll see in the blue eyes. Would he be terrified, like the dead man with a pool of blood spreading across the garbage floor? Disgusted that Leo had gone that far? Would he understand that he needed to do that, that this was the only outcome and it was his life or the rotten human's? Is Mikey even mature enough to understand sacrifice yet? 

Leo was devastated to realize that he probably was. 

Leo wordlessly sweeps his katana again, a blue portal opening up around their feet as they drop down, landing in the atrium of the lair. Crimson blood turning to burning white, and finally the bursting colours of home- blue, purple, red, yellow, brown and orange. Solid ground finds itself at Leo's feet once again, the blue banded 'leader' barely registering the greeting of his other two siblings, his gaze focused on the ground the man was laying. 

He could swear he could still see the pool of blood spreading on the wooden ramp. 

"-whose blood is that!?" Raph's voice cuts through the dull ringing in Leo's head, the slider looking up at the sound dumbly to see his brothers jumping to the lower levels and racing towards them. Panic and fear was evident on their faces and it was Leo's turn to say that soft _oh_ as he looked down to see his hands shaking violently, katana wavering in his bloodied hand and still dripping to the ground. It falls with an echoing clatter to his feet. 

A shadow overcomes him, Leo blinking and looking up to see Raph questioning him, the large snapper's hands hovering around his shaking form as if scared that touching him would make Leo shatter. He was probably right. Raph's mouth was clearly moving, tears brimming in his eyes, but Leo couldn't hear anything, just the dull ring of his fallen katana. The hollow feeling grows and consumes him, and oh _God_ there was so much blood. His own tracing cracks along his face and the splatters of the man he cut and what if some of that blood landed on Mikey and the liquid was _burning_ against his skin and it was starting to hurt and- 

Someone tackles Leo, sending him sprawling on the floor and breaking him from the suffocating thoughts. Arms wrap around his carapace, a face pressed in his plastron and Leo looks down to see the top of Mikey's head, his baby brother's shoulders shaking violently and his sobs break through the hollowness in Leo's chest. A heartbeat passes, Leo's shaking hands not sure where to place themselves before he hugs Mikey back fiercely, wrapping his legs around him as well and covering his head with his own. Mikey was probably hidden, covered by his older brother's hug, Leo desperately wanting to shield him from all the bad things in the world. From the nightmares of Shredder, and silly ideas of ghosts, and scary men holding dangerous weapons. 

His hands were no longer shaking and the ringing was replaced by his quiet whispers promising Mikey that they were fine and they were safe and no, he wasn't hurt and he was so so sorry. Mikey's gut wrenching sobs didn't let up, his shaking form feeling dangerously small in Leo's embrace and Leo realised he would kill ten thousand men and more if it meant protecting his brothers. 

But for now, he could just hold Mikey a little tighter.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Leo has always been a comfort character for me and I adored the Rise! Version of him and had to write something from his point of view. This somehow got spewed out at 4 am, but it do be what it do be.
> 
> Comments and kudos are always loved and appreciated!


End file.
